VALENTINE'S DAY LOVE HEARTS NAIL ART

VALENTINES DAY LOVE AND HEART NAIL ART

My Valentine's Day nail art is here! I hope they last until Valentine's Day, so I will be applying Seche Vite every other day and praying.
It's pretty similar with my former nail arts, florals, hearts, swans, steel balls and text.
This is already my third nail art featuring a swan and I'm sure it's not the last you will ever see of them :D
I used Nails Inc in peach (unnamed), Models Own in Soda Pop Pink and the rest all Topshop. The Steel balls are from eBay.

FOR MORE VALENTINE'S DAY NAILS, CHECK OUT MY VALENTINE'S DAY TAG!

Some more Valentine's day photos of mine:

PANDA HEART VALENTINE'S DAY NAILS

Valentine's heart with panda nail art

HEARTS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY
Although how I feel about Valentine's Day is mood-dependent, what stays consistent is my love of heart-shaped goodies that appear everywhere. Why have a round bowl if you can have a heart one? Huh?
Even my blog (Kokoro) means 'heart' when translated into English from Japanese.

When it comes to nail art, hearts are perfect for beginners.
For big hearts, make two dots (preferably with a dotting tool) and then drag into a V.
For smaller hearts, just draw Vs (you cant tell!).

PANDA AND HEART NAIL ART
For my panda heart nail art, I cheated a little and added glitter hearts from OPI's from Nothin' Mousie Bout It. This was to add more depth. Nothin' Mousie Bout It is SO hard to work with and on it's own I HATE it! Instead of applying it with the bottle's brush (which proves nearly impossible), I tipped the polish out, picked the hearts out with the end of a hair pin and placed them on. Voila!

Valentine's heart nail art with panda on both hands

And the inspiration? This pretty thing, my Panda, Coco. She's named after another queen of black and white, Chanel.

Wanna see more of my heart-work?
Here's a couple proving the colour variations are endless.

CHRISTMAS WRAPPING PAPER NAILS



MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU, YEP YOU.
Are your nails all ready for Christmas? These are mine. Once I wrote that sometimes I like to approach nail art by throwing everything at it like it's a Christmas tree. Well since it's Christmas I did just that.
I based this design on Christmas wrapping paper and well, if you can't overdo your nail art at Christmas, then when can you?
The red is OPI's Animalistic from The Muppets collection which is one of my favourite reds- it has a metallic subtle sheen to it. Another very Christmas-y nail polish from OPI's Muppet collection is the green glitter 'Fresh Frog of Bel Air'. It's a chunky green glitter with silver flecks, just stick a few gems and instant Christmas tree nails!
I did use gems for the holy inspired by this Topshop jumper, which I will be wearing come Christmas Day to match my nails.

TOPSHOP CHRISTMAS JUMPER

 

For other ideas these are my fair isle nails I did earlier this year. I was not in a rush to reproduce them this time (I'm still recovering from how long they took).

FAIR ISLE CHRISTMAS NAIL ART

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

 

 

HALLOWEEN SUGAR SKULL NAIL ART

Halloween Sugar Skull nail art

My second halloween nail art inspired by the mexian sugar skulls! I wanted the base to look sugary and sheer so I mixed Model's Own Snow White with Essie's Kisses and Bises.This way, it also makes the 'decorations' on the sugar skulls stand out more. I would have LOVED to use neon colours, but sadly I have none, next time :)

HALLOWEEN NAIL ART

My Halloween nail art featuring bats, an Aztec skull, cat (meow), a ghost with pearls for eyes and BOO! All colours from Topshop. The steel balls are from eBay and can be bought for so cheap, I really think they are worth having a go at as they can really bring your nail art to life. Lots of patience required!

CHECKERED NAIL ART

Checkered nail art
 

 A very straight-forward nail art- black and white checks with pink accents. Using white as the base (Barry M) I drew the black checks on. A first I was going to do a gradient edge, but decided to carry the print all-over as it looked more 'together'.

 As always, I love patterned nails, they look amazing in everyday use. The checkered nails were inspired (again) by Gwen Stefani who I believe wears the Sally Hansen checkered nail wraps, and No Doubt's new album Push and Shove (which is incredible, just to add). I actually wore these to see No Doubt perform.


Gwen Stefani shows off her
checkered nails.

MY LITTLE PONY GIRLIE KAWAII NAIL ART

My Little Pony cute kawaii nail art wheel

 

My My Little Pony nail wheel featuring Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Princess Celestia ponies. I am not too familiar with the new My Little Pony series, but Jade and Tara from The Style Rawr bought me these super cute hair clips from H&M and I love them so much, that they inspired this.
This wheel was so much fun to do, and reminds me a little of Heatherette. I love that nail art lets me indulge in this side of me a little :).
I used Hexagon glitters for the N and K nails which didn't photograph so well but look amazing in person. The red beaded heart has gems from a mixed nail wheel off eBay. For everything else, I mainly used TopShop, Barry M and a brush.

My Little Pony hair clips from H&M

NO DOUBT / GWEN STEFANI NAIL ART

No Doubt Gwen Stefani Nail Art

Anyone who knows me knows I've always loved No Doubt. There's no point even getting into it. I am so excited about No Doubt's new album Push and Shove which is coming out this month, you can listen to previews of it on iTunes.
How amazing is Gwen Stefani? I always wanted her to start wearing nail art, and just about died when she started wearing checkered nail wraps in the video for Settle Down as well as photoshoots. Go Gwen! I also used checkered nail wraps but these are clear/silver ones from Urbanista which I found in TK Maxx for £3. They're more tricky to apply than other nail wraps as they're more plastic, but I love the rainbow effect when they hit the light. I placed them over Barry M's white polish.
For the silver I used Stargazer 232 which is my favourite silver polish. It's so cheap in price, but applies so well and leaves more of a matt finish than others, even though it's not strictly a matt. For the black I used Topshop.

Gwen Stefani nail art

PARALYMPIC NAIL ART

I've been glued to the Paralympics; it's so humbling. I can't imagine being told that you'll never walk again, and then winning gold in athletics. Today I caught the football, the players were completely blind so the ball had bells. It just blew me away tbh.

So anyway, I am going to the Olympic Stadium tomorrow to watch the Paralympic Athletics. Of course I had to do nails! I was going to do flags, but how pretty are the official pictograms?  The pictograms I did are: Athletics, Football, Volleyball, Swimming and Equestrian. I used the Topshop nail art pens because they're clean and perfect for simple designs.

LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC NAIL ART

London 2012 Olympic nail art

Not really a fan of sports, but I'm a huge fan of London (by default, birth, blood and by everything else), and we've had such a patriotic year which has carried on with the Olympics. There is a lot of dislike; the crowds, cost and unable to get tickets... but once I saw giant Voldemolt (wow!!!), everything was alright again.
The official London 2012 Olympic colours centre around pink (mainly) and blue, which happens to be my favourite nail colour combination so I dived right in.
I used Barry M colours being less pastel than other brands. Barry M Pink Flamingo is my favourite shade by them right now, so I used that along with a blue.
This was one of my quickest nail designs, a bit rushed, but happy it didn't take too long.

ROCOCO'S REAL GOLD LEAF VARNISH

Rococo Gold Leaf over Jaded

On Thursday 12th July, I had a real treat at the opening week of Space NK, Victoria as Rococo founders and nail artists Ange & Vernice Walker were on on hand (I love these nails puns) launching their Autumn / Winter line.

Formally of an interior design background, Ange explained how the development of Rococo was heavily influenced by art. This is evident in their choice of unique shades; a hefty selection of day-wear neutrals, along side unique oranges and jelly hot pinks. The art influence extends through not just paintings, but also framing as their line also offers nail embellishment products. We're not talking glue-on gems or glitters from China, but beautiful, fine real gold leaf varnish. YES, real 24-carat gold. Nail art has forever held a stigma of being tacky and exclusive to the very young. Forget all that and now welcome elegant, high-trend, catwalk worthy nails. A little piece of Versailles to us Inner City girls.

　

APPLICATION

Ange shaped my nails with Rococo's glass file. Although not as exciting as the other products, I had to include it because I fell in love. My nails are a shambles right now and I even broke one off the skin, yet she filed my nails beautifully within just a few minutes. The glass file sealed the edges and my nails have never felt stronger.

For the main shade I picked a green/blue colour in Jaded (available here). I wanted something to contrast and really bring out the gold as deserved. We decided to call them my Tiffany & Co nails, but they're also very Fortnum and Mason too.

Opaque in 2 coats, I'm now into 5 days of wear and they still look as fresh as the first day. Rococo nail colours are so opaque that they're the same colour in the bottle as on your nails. This results in less product wasted as well as a smoother application (no tail-tail signs of layers around the edge).

I own a lot of blue/green shades, but I find most unwearable on pale skin with long nails. Jaded is the most flattering I've tried; not as bright and blue as China Glaze's For Audrey for instance, it's just a much softer shade.


Rococo Gold Leaf nails over Jaded

APPLYING THE GOLD LEAF
Rococo's Gold Leaf varnish (available here) was then applied on top. The application was quick and easy. Directions state to apply sparingly, but unlike glitter there was no need for multiple layers with in between dry times. With just a few swipes, you've already achieved a strong result. You can go anywhere you like with this; all over the nail or just on the tips. I would love to do an ombré tip look. The catwalks of Alexander McQueen had a similar look with silver on black, but I was told that unlike gold, a silver would be scratchy and difficult to remove. Unlike glitter, the gold leaf feels soft and easy to remove.

Finally, Rococo nail oil was applied to my cuticles, much like Solar Oil, and 24hrs later and they still felt smooth.

Ange also shared a boat-load of invaluable tips gained from working on photo shoots. For example, clean-up was done with a pointed-tipped natural brush dipped in nail polish remover. Just like an eraser this gave a really clean, sharp edge.

Posing with Rococo

Rococo's packaging is simple but I like that. Rococo doesn't need gimmicks; their innovative and unique products stand on their own.

　

Rococo nail stand in Space NK

OVERALL
It just so happens that I'm planning a trip to Versailles and can't imagine a more perfect nail varnish to wear. If Marie Antoinette was alive now, would she wear Rococo Gold Leaf Lacquer? Of course she would! And do I think it's worth the £35 price tag? Of course I do, yes and yes again.  How many people see nothing of shelling £33 for a Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser? This varnish is worth its weight in gold and literally is made from just that. A unique look achieved so effortlessly and so wearable by all types of women. I know it's only July, but I'm already thinking what a great Christmas present this would make. Until Versailles, how about wearing these to a decadent afternoon tea?

The attention my nails received was non-stop. If I wasn't so in love with them, I might have been surprised by how many compliments I received, but quite smugly I wasn't. From Selfridges employers, to my mum, people noticed them and would ask so many questions. I loved telling people, 'they're real gold' and each time receiving a shocked, 'you're lying! Serious?'. Doesn't this all just make nail varnish even more fun?


Rococo Gold Leaf Lacquer is my new nail varnish of the moment.The Autumn/Winter Rocco collection is available from Space NK stores. Don't forget your Space NK indulgent card if you have one.

MAVALA SPOTLIGHT

An honoured thank-you to Mavala for spotlighting me this month. You can read the interview I did for them here.
I'm very excited by this because Mavala is a brand that I'm still familarizing with, but the more I do, the more I want too.
What strikes me about Mavala is how well they nail (ahem) every colour. I never thought I could pull off an orange until Fresh Melon, or a green until Pistachio. I honestly can't think of another brand who do it so well. I feel confident in knowing that whichever colour I pick will be flattering (this is so tricky with pale skin and long nails). Such pretty, feminine colours which still stand-out.

Aside from their website, the best place for me to buy Mavala is John Lewis on Oxford Street, London. The John Lewis store recently hosted a collaboration between Mavala and Haviannas; upon buying a pair of Haviannas you could have your nails painted in a matching colour. How much do I love this idea? Let's all pretend that this summer is actually acting like summer and replicate it.

KAWAII QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE NAILS

Queen's Diamond Jubilee nails

 Happy Queen's Jubilee weekend to UK readers! Here is my second attempt at Jubilee nails (why not eh?), my first was a pastel version here so I decided to have a bit more fun with this one. It turned out quite kawaii and I admit that it's a bit over the place which bothers me but oh well!

The base colour is the gorgeous Blue Mint from Mavala, which I seem to be using more than any other colour in my nail arts!

Pinky - EIIR (Elizabeth II Regina). Diamond pattern background.
Ring - little corgi wearing a crown - the Queen's favourite dog breed.
Middle - Unicorn and lion motif with crown.
Index - The Queen and a Union Jack.
Thumb - Writing 'Queen's Jubilee' 52-12 (her reign) with a silver diamond pattern background.



Close up of Jubilee nails featuring the Queen

Topshop Corgi socks

The corgi drawing was one I totally copied from these Topshop socks, how cute! The rest I just made up as I went along.
Have a royally good weekend, bahahaha!

More diamond jubilee nails here ! http://kokoronails.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/london

TOPSHOP METALLICS NAIL SWATCHES

Topshop nails at Oxford Circus, London.
Resisting the urge to scoop them all up in my arms and carry them home!

It's too easy to keep buying these little guys from TopShop! I've reviewed a couple of their creams before and loved them. Their metallic range is £1 dearer priced at £6 each or a gift pack of 3 for £13. I'm reviewing 3 nail varnishes but they have loads on their website and instores (possibly apart from consession branches). So here we go....

Topshop nail varnish Hidden Treasure swatch

Topshop Hidden Treasure was my first purchase and the one I was looking most forward to. This is a duo-chrome antique gold colour (ahem treasure!) with an intense dark green shimmer reminiscent of taffeta. It's so interesting and lovely to wear because the colour constantly changes. Of course it's very similar to Chanel's Peridot, how did they manage to make gold turning green chic? I'm liking it! Topshop describes this colour as a green but it's definitely more gold, however a dim light can change that. I actually wore this for St. Patrick's Day- gold and green, perfect!I was so pleased with Hidden Treasure and predictably it became my favourite of the 3. I wear it regularly and it lasts really well. It's my new nail varnish of the moment, hurray! 2 coats.

NAILS INC WITH INSTYLE MAGAZINE

If you're in the UK, you can bag yourself a free Nails Inc varnish from this month's InStyle magazine (dated June 2012) right now!



There are 3 colours available; 2 purples and a peach (which I got). I had been looking for an opaque peach for a while, unlike all the sheer neutrals I own. This is neither french manicure or bridal appropriate, it's a girly Spring picnic shade which still stands out. It strangely reminds me of a nude crayon.

An un-named colour, it's a thick ice cream peach with a vibrant pink undertone. The strong pink tone is what makes it stand out (it's much stronger than in the pictures) It is streaky, but the consistency is thick so it takes 2-3 coats. Nails Inc is notorious for chipping on me, but this didn't chip for 3 days (although they were super lazy days).

I love this colour; a nude without being bland! I would be disappointed if I had paid the  UK Nails Inc retail of £11 ($17.50 here yikes!), but for £3.80, happy.
I've already used this in a nail art, check out my Queen's Jubilee Nail Art post.